April 30, 2005

Hillary Clinton, brilliant power broker, had a wonderful role model: Saul David Alinsky. In fact she wrote her college thesis on this master of community organizing http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul_Alinsky. Alinsky's special expertise was in creating coalitions based on mutual enemies.

Chutzpah or what's perceived in society as a break with decorum is a rhetorical device that can be labeled as pure genius. That's how it played out with leaders ranging from Lee Iacocca in the 1980s to Howard Dean in the early stages of the 2004 presidential campaign.

Or chutzpah can really offend, demonstrate poor judgment, or wear audiences out. Dean's chutzpah is doing all that in his current role as official voice of the Democratic Party.

April 28, 2005

In his introduction to "The Complete Stories of Truman Capote," (http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reynolds_Price) literary critic and writer Reynolds Price makes a poignant observation. Maybe that same observation also applies to the recent story of business rehtoric in America.

Did Capote's art and the man himself implode because the subject matter of his writing and life became "inconsequential?" (Price's term)

Hungry for business during the past recession, yeah, I became a caricature of one of those Ladies Who Lunch. I hit every professional luncheon in Fairfield County, CT and even schlepped into Manhattan. And so did every other professional starving for business. Traditional networking strategies/tactics attract sellers, not buyers. That means, a waste of time. And, worse, looking down-and-out. So, how do we connect in ways that bring in business or job leads?

Why is everyone, including THE NEW YORK TIMES columnist Alessandra Stanley (4/25,05, E1), picking on Katie Couric? Answer: we Americans hate tired brands. Worn-out brands, ranging from Couric to Kodak, which just posted a $142 million quarterly loss, fail to deliver the familiar stuff we're been accustomed to enjoying. So, we turn on them.